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Suspended Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis pleads not guilty to charges of misconduct in office and obstruction of justice during his arraignment hearing at the Greenville County Courthouse on Thursday, April 19, 2018. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

Suspended Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis pleads not guilty to charges of misconduct in office and obstruction of justice during his arraignment hearing at the Greenville County Courthouse on Thursday, April 19, 2018. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

Greenville County's now-suspended Sheriff Will Lewis appears in a Greenville court Thursday, April 19, 2018, for his arraignment on charges of misconduct and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty. Josh Morgan/The Greenville News

Greenville County's now-suspended Sheriff Will Lewis appears in a Greenville court Thursday, April 19, 2018, for his arraignment on charges of misconduct and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty. Josh Morgan/The Greenville News

Greenville County's now-suspended Sheriff Will Lewis appears in a Greenville court Thursday, April 19, 2018, for his arraignment on charges of misconduct and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty. Josh Morgan/The Greenville News

Greenville County's now-suspended Sheriff Will Lewis appears in a Greenville court Thursday, April 19, 2018, for his arraignment on charges of misconduct and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty. Josh Morgan/The Greenville News

Deputy Solicitor with the 16th circuit Willie Thompson, left, and Lt. Bo Barton of SLED, speak to one another during Will Lewis' arraignment hearing at the Greenville County Courthouse on Thursday, April 19, 2018. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis holds a press conference and admits to having an affair, but denies sexual assault allegations, at the Law Enforcement Center on Thursday, October 19, 2017.(Photo11: LAUREN PETRACCA\STAFF)

Suspended Greenville County Sheriff Will Lewis is asking for the courts to throw out his criminal indictments.

His attorney, Rauch Wise of Greenwood, filed motions to quash indictments of misconduct in office and obstruction of justice, according to court papers filed Friday.

A motion to quash asks the courts to rule that the charges filed against someone are invalid.

In Lewis' case, the motion argues that the obstruction of justice charge is too vague to determine what Lewis is alleged to have committed. For the misconduct in office charge, the motion claims that the charge is "overly broad" and does not specify a criminal act. The Greenville News was first to report the contents of the motion.

"The indictment in this case fails to allege what duty imposed by the common law upon the office of the sheriff was in fact violated by the defendant," the motion states.

Wise said Wednesday the allegations are so vague that he is unsure how to proceed with preparing for a trial. He said it's unclear what he needs to refute as an attorney when the indictments are too broad.

"It doesn’t inform me of what specifically he did wrong to be guilty of both misconduct in office and obstruction of justice," Wise told The Greenville News. "Based on the indictments, I have no way of telling which witnesses I need to go interview to refute which specific allegations."

Lewis was suspended in April 2018 after allegations of misconduct of office that stemmed from a sexual harassment and assault allegation from a former assistant.

Lewis' former assistant, Savanah Nabors, had filed a civil lawsuit alleging a sexual assault stemming from a work trip to Charlotte in March 2017. Lewis maintained that the extramarital encounter was consensual. A settlement for that lawsuit was reached in October but the details were not made public.

Though Lewis is only criminally charged with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, an investigation is still underway by the State Law Enforcement Division.

One indictment states that Lewis "willfully and dishonestly failed to properly and faithfully discharge his lawful duties" as sheriff "through a series of improper acts" between Jan. 12, 2017, through Feb. 13, 2018. The other indictment states that Lewis "purposely attempted to prevent, obstruct, impede or hinder the administration of justice" between April 25, 2017, and Feb. 13, 2018.

In April 2018, Lewis was arraigned on both charges and pleaded not guilty. He was most recently in court in December 2018 to change attorneys. He was first represented by Wally Fayssoux, Jr., Beattie Ashmore and Butch Bowers but retained Wise when the prior attorneys withdrew counsel.

Fayssoux had said in a statement that Lewis "adamantly denies any wrongdoing or misconduct in office and certainly did not interfere with an investigation he personally requested."

A trial is expected to commence sometime after March 1, 2019. Wise said he expects to have a hearing on the motions to quash later this month.